Arab Americans share their heritage at 12th annual Bazaar in Bay Ridge
July 19th, 20180 BROOKLYN, NY - Sunday, July 9, Arab Americans celebrated their heritage at the 12th annual Arab American Bazaar in Bay Ridge, sponsored by the Arab American Association of New York. Attendees enjoyed a wide variety of regional foods and entertainment, with many dressed in traditional outfits from countries such as Egypt, Syria,...
TSA screeners win immunity from flyer abuse claims
July 11th, 20180 PHILADELPHIA — Fliers may have a tough time recovering damages for invasive screenings at U.S. airport security checkpoints, after a federal appeals court on Wednesday said screeners are immune from claims under a federal law governing assaults, false arrests and other abuses. In a 2-1 vote, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...
Federal court blocks detention of asylum seekers
July 6th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal court has blocked the arbitrary detention of asylum seekers fleeing persecution, torture or death in their countries of origin. It also ordered a case-by-case review of whether each asylum seeker in a class-action lawsuit should be released on humanitarian parole. The ruling began from a challenge brought...
Comedian Dean Obeidallah wins lawsuit against neo-Nazi from Ohio
July 6th, 20180 COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal district court here issued an entry of default against an American neo-Nazi in a lawsuit filed by an Arab American comedian, Dean Obeidallah, who said Andrew Anglin and his website, The Daily Stormer, published fabricated information claiming Obeidallah was a "terrorist mastermind." Tuesday's default entry...
First Arab American sworn in as mayor of Paterson, New Jersey
July 6th, 20180 PATERSON, NJ —Andre Sayegh was sworn in as the mayor of Paterson, New Jersey on Sunday afternoon, July 1, becoming the first Arab American to hold the city’s highest office. Sayegh’s longtime political mentor, Rep. Bill Pascrell, administered the oath of office. Following his oath, Sayegh delivered a 12-minute inaugural...
Jewish American BDS activist denied entry into Israel
July 6th, 20180 WEST BANK — A Prominent Jewish American activist, Ariel Gold, was denied entry into Israel on Sunday, July 1, over her activism in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Gold was prevented from entering Israel when she landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport Sunday afternoon. She was held until 11 p.m....
Study: Media coverage of American Muslims Is bigoted and inaccurate
July 6th, 20182 NEW YORK— An organization looking to use data to combat the overwhelming amount of misinformation about Muslims in the media has released an in-depth report to highlight their contributions to society. The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding published the New York City edition of its report, Muslims for American...
DHS extends temporary protection status for 1,250 Yemenis
July 6th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration said on Thursday it would allow some 1,250 Yemenis to remain in the United States for at least another 18 months under protected status as war and a humanitarian crisis rage in their native country. Yemenis in the United States with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will be able to...
Officials’ reactions to U.S. Supreme Court decision on Muslim Travel Ban
July 1st, 20180 Japanese American protesters: What happened to us should never happen again WASHINGTON/DEARBORN — Outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, many protesters held signs that read "No Muslim Ban" and "We Will Not Be Banned" as they protested the court's decision to uphold President Trump's travel ban. However, in the process —...
Arab American police officer promoted in Youngstown, OH
June 30th, 20180 YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The Youngstown Police Department made history Thursday with the first promotion of an Arab American and Muslim police officer. Mohammad Awad, who is entering his seventh year with the department, is going from police officer to detective sergeant. The department swore him in to his new duties Thursday morning...
Yemeni Americans grapple with travel ban fallout as protests erupt in large cities
June 30th, 20181 NEW YORK — Yemeni Americans are most affected by President Trump's Muslim travel ban among the Arab and Muslim Americans. Yemen is one of the countries listed on the third version of the travel ban, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. The ban blocks citizens of Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, and...
Supreme Court upholds Trump’s travel ban targeting Muslim-majority nations
June 26th, 20181 WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday handed Donald Trump one of the biggest victories of his presidency, upholding his travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries and rejecting the argument that it represented unconstitutional religious discrimination. The 5-4 ruling, with the court’s five conservatives in...
Lawsuit claims landlord denied man a property lease because he’s Muslim
June 24th, 20181 DENVER — When Craig Caldwell wanted to sublet a space to a Muslim restaurant owner, his landlord turned the deal down. He was so shocked at the reason she gave that he used his cell phone to record two conversations with her. His landlord said find an "American person", according to the recordings. The recordings, which are part...
U.S. quits U.N. Human Rights Council, claiming it’s anti-Israel
June 24th, 20180 WASHINGTON — The Trump administration withdrew from the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday, accusing the body of hypocrisy and bias against Israel. “For too long, the Human Rights Council has been a protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias,” Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said Tuesday...
1 In 4 hijabi women experienced shoving on NYC subway
June 22nd, 20182 NEW YORK — More than a quarter of hijabi Muslim or Arab-looking women were shoved on the subways as xenophobic attacks proliferated in New York City around and following the 2016 presidential election, a new report says. More than 27 percent of Muslim women who wear the hijab, a religious head covering, said they were......
ACLU sues over plans for citizenship question on 2020 Census
June 20th, 20181 NEW YORK —Civil rights lawyers sued the U.S. Commerce Department last week to try to stop plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, calling it an unconstitutional attempt to discriminate against immigrants. The Manhattan federal court lawsuit on behalf of immigrants' rights groups blames racial animus for the recent...
Tampa man goes to prison for ruining home sale to Muslim family
June 18th, 20180 TAMPA — Kaderbhai Ali Asgar choked up as he told the courtroom what Islam means to him. It is a religion of love and peace, he said. "Security for all," Asgar said. "That’s what I want." Just a feet away from him sat David H. Howard, the man who had threatened in November 2016 to burn a Davis Islands house down if Asgar and his...
Trump calls De Niro ‘very low IQ individual’ for Tony Awards outburst
June 12th, 20180 LOS ANGELES - President Trump on Tuesday hit back at Robert De Niro, calling him a “very low IQ individual,” after the Oscar-winning actor’s expletive-laden attack on the American president on live television. Two days after De Niro’s outburst on the stage of the Tony Awards ceremony in New York, Trump said he had watched the...
Survey: 1 in 5 Americans would deny Muslims the right to vote
June 10th, 20180 WASHINGTON - A minority of Americans believe that many Muslim Americans are not “American” enough, according to a new study by the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group. They also see little difference between Muslims from other countries and Muslim Americans, “suggesting that ‘Americanness’ alone does not lead to more positive......
Amazon lets Muslim workers put Ramadan before Prime Day
June 10th, 20180 MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — The run-up to Amazon Prime Day, the e-commerce giant’s big July sales promotion, overlaps with Ramadan, 30 sacred days during which many observant Muslims fast and seek time off. That’s creating tension in Minnesota’s Twin Cities region, where activists say Amazon.com Inc. employs more than...
American Muslim investors to donate $5.6 million to charity during Ramadan
June 10th, 20181 FALLS CHURCH, Virginia — Azzad Asset Management, a socially responsible, faith-based registered investment advisor, announced on Thursday that its Muslim clients are expected to donate approximately $5.6 million to charity during the holy month of Ramadan. The figure is the highest since Azzad began providing this calculation in......
Congressman Dan Kildee and staff fast in solidarity with Muslim Americans
June 9th, 20180 FLINT, Michigan — U.S Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint), along with his congressional staff in Washington, D.C., fasted Wednesday June 6 in solidarity with Muslims in Michigan and around the world in observance of Ramadan. Ramadan is a holy month of fasting during which Muslims may not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. This will be the...
Muslim students attacked at a Florida McDonald’s
June 8th, 20180 SAINT AUGUSTINE, Fla - A Florida man was arrested on Wednesday after he reportedly attacked two men he believed to be Muslims or Middle Easterners. He used a stun gun and told them they didn’t “deserve to eat American food". John Jay Smith, 60, got into a verbal altercation with the men before menacing them with a knife and......
